Bishop Street Underwriters announces joint venture with Topsail Re
Bishop Street Underwriters, a RedBird Capital Partners portfolio company, announced a joint venture with reinsurer Topsail Re.
As part of the partnership, Topsail Re will be co-investing into Bishop Street and providing capacity to MGAs and program administrators that work with the company.
In addition to the creation of the joint venture, Topsail Re CEO David Johnson and Chief Strategy Officer & Executive Vice President Christopher Miller will join the Bishop Street Board of Directors, and Tom Gubash, Managing Director of Topsail Capital Partners, will join as a Board Observer.
Bishop Street was launched last year to acquire and is led by Chad Levine and Chad Weber.
“We are excited to partner with Topsail Re. From the initial launch of Bishop Street, we have been focused on utilizing capacity as a strategic asset for our platform partners. Preferred capacity is a critical enabler for MGAs and this investment supports organic growth at existing MGA programs and the launch of new programs. Topsail Re is the ideal first partner for Bishop Street as we continue working with MGAs in the specialty P&C commercial space and is a clear differentiator in the marketplace.” – Chad Levine.
“Combining RedBird’s strong track record building companies in and around the insurance industry, like Constellation Affiliated Partners, as well as their network and expertise in the financial services sector with Bishop Street’s multi-boutique platform model creates a really unique partner in this space that can offer benefits of scale in addition to individualized support for the business. The Topsail Re team recognized the potential of what we are building, and we are excited to work together to capitalize on this specialized segment.” – Chad Weber.
“Bishop Street is creating an exceptional platform to support a diverse range of partners with necessary underwriting and distribution functions as well as capital across specialty lines. We are pleased to work with Bishop Street to leverage our combined scale to provide additional capacity for MGAs, and drive organic growth opportunities.” – David Johnson, Topsail Re CEO.
“For Topsail Re, this partnership with Bishop Street and RedBird is in direct response to two key factors: our existing partners consistently requesting strategic growth capital in addition to our risk-capital (reinsurance) capacity solutions, as well as our desire to continually evolve alongside our clients by expanding the breadth of our capabilities and partner-first solutions.” – Tom Gubash.
“The combination of Bishop Street and Topsail Re is a unique approach to the MGA buy-and-build strategy. Now, more than ever, it is important to marry strategic business building capabilities with deep capacity relationships. The Topsail Re partnership will enable day-one strategic value to prospective Bishop Street acquisitions, as well as long-term value for Bishop Street and its acquired platforms for tuck-ins, new program launches, and team lift-outs.” – Mike Zabik, Partner of RedBird Capital Partners.
